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What an awesome experience!!
Dave came on first and did a good job. It's the first time I've seen him live, so I was really curious to see what it was like. There was a lot of good songs and good guitar playing. Bryan Young was really good too. Dave's voice is still pretty good, but he needs to lay off the kicks.

Next or course was Sammy. The weather report said it might rain, which would be great for the wildfires around the area. But I didn't bother bringing a raincoat and we got poured on!! When Sammy came on stage the clouds were really dark overhead and after a few songs it started pouring. It was coming down, but it was so much fun. Sammy kept on going and he sounded great. Halfway through the rain let up, but most of the people still were there. It started raining again near the end and I think Sammy cut it short. Too bad because everyone seemed like they didn't care about the rain and wanted a few more songs. Overall a great show, it seemed a little rushed, but it was really fun.

Sammy fans in Colorado are awesome!! Sticking through it till the end rain and all!!

What a show!! Dave kicked ass to start the show and got it going, then Sammy just was amazing and it started to pour. It was my first time to see either of these 2 perform live and I really think Sammy put on a better show. This is coming from an unbiased 20 year old that is into both of the singers, not one or the other. Sammy just had more energy. If it had not rained it would have been even better!!

Just got back from the show. It rocked: Dave and band kicked ass. I have studied martial arts and his kicks were super for a 48 year old. His band was tight and Dave really seemed to enjoy the show. The songs made me think I was seeing VH in 1984 again. I was so glad he did DOA. Dave played for 90 minutes non-stop

Sammy came on around 9 and played for 70 minutes overall his show was great too. Just a bit short, but that is probably because everone was soaked from the rain. Vic did an admirable job on guitar. Mona flat out rocked. Being that the show was short he did not play eagles.

Both performers sort of acknowledged each other. Dave said he spent the afternoon drinking cabo wabo and Sam said something about hot for teacher.

Dave played first and I thought his band was really really tight. He looked great, and they played a great set. Dave seemed preoccupied the entire show and did not interact with the audience much. I dare say it, he acted rather mature - by David Lee Roth standards, anyway. He's not as agile as he used to be, but for a guy in his late 40's he was impressive. It took him about three songs to get wound up but I thought his voice sounded great. There will be dispute on that but Dave was always the lounge singer type, and you either like his voice or you don't. There was a video screen showing some rather bizarre clips of Dave doing Martial arts and playing Navy Seal with pretty girls. It was very minimalist but Dave's style is to carry the show on his own charisma and less on pyrotechnics and fog machines, so there you go. I loved it, although it wouldn't have hurt to dress up the stage a LITTLE. I sort of missed the midgets and girls in bikinis. Dave's guitarist did an interesting version of "Eruption" - he started out in familiar territory then embellished for a solo that in my opinion was superior to the original. Sorry Eddie fans, but as a musician myself I can tell you that while Eddie was once the king of guitar, but he's no Satriani or Vai and nowadays guys who can cop Ed's licks are a dime a dozen. This guitarist had more chops than a Bruce Lee flick.

Sammy started his set with a LONG video montage where he alternated between patting himself on the back for being an awesome person and offering gauzy platitudes to the Van Halen brothers. I thought he could have cut it short. Anyone who was willing to pay $50 - $60 to see these two old codgers probably already KNOWS their life stories. If Sammy's set felt short it was because of the 15-minute video montage.

Sammy's show was a stark contrast to Daves. He had a crowd on stage, had his gear painted up and had lots of lights and confetti and eye candy. He was VERY energetic - amazingly so for a 54 year old. Some reviews had criticized his voice but last night he hit everything. Nailed it. Without exception.

Personally, I feel that Dave's band was a much better group of musicians and I was very disappointed with Sammy's guitar player. But Sam benefited from the fact that he was second, he was more energetic, his show had a lot of eye candy, and it RAINED during the show. Right in the middle of "Dreams" as if it were right on cue, at the high point of the song it began to pour, thunder and lightning. I was sure Sammy would reach up and grab a lightning bolt from the sky and explode. Unfortunately for Dave, that bit of good fortune was a little hard to top. Sammy rolled with the unexpected surprise and worked it into his dialogue with the audience. I thought that was very slick and professional. Definitely the mark of a good performer. I was sure the headlines in the paper were going to read "Sammy Hagar puts out Hayman Fire while Dave drinks in Playboy Bunnies backstage."

Sammy also benefited from having our former Georgetown Colorado mayor (and former stripper) Koleen Brooks flashing the audience on stage. Nice. There's a girl who does not need politics to get ahead in life.

So in short, I felt that while Sammy had a more energetic SHOW, Dave had the better BAND.

I'll finish by pointing out that neither Dave or Sam "suck". People have their preferences in things and it makes people feel good to pretend like their personal preferences are more important than they really are. Both guys have sold millions of records and have millions of fans so before you accuse one of them of "sucking" check how many records YOU have sold and how many fans YOU have. For the record I prefer the Dave era, but last night I felt both guys were awesome, and I even found myself with a whole new respect for Sammy after the show. I recommend the experience for anybody who enjoys live music.

The fact that these two guys can get a long and put on a great show together makes it doubly sad Ed and Alex could not have found a way to get over their issues and get involved. I'd have paid twice as much money to see the whole band on stage with Dave and Sam for four hours.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion as far as who is a good or great guitar player. But for someone to imply that Eddie is no Vai or Satch, all I can say to that is, you got that right. I am very thankful that Eddie is no Vai or Satch. Believe me, I really admire and enjoy listening to them both. But I must say that they would not play the way that they do had it not been for Eddie. All of the things that are standard vocabulary to these guys today, Eddie invented. Nobody was doing the tapping type things that Eddie was doing in the context of heavy rock format. His whammy bar work, pinch type harmonics, it goes on and on. I realize that Eddie was not the first person to ever tap on the guitar, but he was the first to do it in the context of hard Rock. I am a musician as well. I have been playing the guitar for 25 years, and have done session work for the past 18 years. Depending on what day it is, will dictate what style I'll be playing that day. Jeff Beck one day, the Joe Satriani the next. Eddie Van Halen is the greatest rock guitarist to ever play the thing. How fast you play has nothing to do with how good you are. I can cop Eddie's solos too, but does that make me a better guitarist? I wish. He is the author and inventor of evrything cool that has been done on the electric guitar in the past 25 years. Vai plays like a machine, and I have all of his stuff, but I'd take Eddie any day over anything that Vai has done. On the eat em and smile tour, I was amazed to hear Vai"s interprertation's of Eddie's stuff. I was far from impressed. The odd harmonic run that is classic in that song, Vai didn't even do. The classic solo in Ice Cream Man he didn't do that. He tried, I should say. It was disappointing. Did that make Vai a bad player? No, he just isn't Eddie and never will be. Eddie has a feel and a touch that no one can match. He is widely imitated but never duplicated. I'm not trying to be a jerk about this, but I can't help but laugh when someone even implies that Eddie is just a "has been" of sorts. I saw him on the last tour, and he is playing as good or better than ever. I have seen em all. Page, Beck, Satch, Vai, Morse, Gilbert, Bettencourt, it goes on and on. The things that Eddie does, are the original real deal as far as the stuff that the shred guys of today are doing or have done from 1980 to present. Beck and Page are from a different school altogether. Eddie Van Halen is the equivelent of Thomas Edison on the guitar. Long may he live and play.......Peace

Let me just say that I love VAN HALEN, no matter who is singing. Yes, that means I even liked Gary when he was the singer.

This was my wife's first Van Halen experience, but we've been to lots of concerts together. Maybe it helps to add that we're both mid-20's, and I've seen VH once with Sammy and twice with Gary. That Sammy show in '95 still remains the second-best concert experience ever for myself, second only to Rush.

Dave started VERY strong, with an excellent selection of songs. But then it just got uncomfortable to watch. You know what? Dave is too old to act like he does. He really needs to at least REALIZE that he's not in his 20's any more, and this is not the late 70's/early 80's. I looked on in disgust as he paraded around in tight leather pants and jerked-off with a whiskey bottle. And while his band nailed every song, there is no substitute for the real thing. I did, however, enjoy Ray Luzier's drumming- he put an interesting twist on a lot of Alex's original work. And Dave, you can lay off the F-bombs, too.
Unchained was the only song I enjoyed in the whole second half of his set.

Needless to say, I knew Sammy would be a refreshing change. You better believe he came out with more energy. And yes, being the closing act WITH all the rain did add a bit to the show. I liked his band, too. They weren't VH, and they didn't try to be. 5150 was the high point for me.
I will say that I will never take my kids to a Sammy Hagar concert. The Poundcake montage was definately R-rated. My wife said that although she enjoyed Sammy's set for the most part, there's a bit of sell-out going on. Sammy says he's all about the music, but he does a lot to cheapen it too.

So, overall, I would say that Sammy won. I walked away with renewed appreciation for Van Halen, and I sure hope the next Van Halen singer is not Dave. Sammy would be okay, I guess, but really, as long as it's Ed, Alex, and Mike, I know it will be better than this concert.

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